


wannabe

by hyuckheis (johnyongs)



Series: hippocampus [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Research Lab, Lab Shenanigans and Disasters, M/M, neuroscience, the disaster that is donghyuck's undergraduate career
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-20 02:05:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11910960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnyongs/pseuds/hyuckheis
Summary: for someone who studies brains, donghyuck sure acts like he doesn't have one





	wannabe

**Author's Note:**

> some of the abbreviations used in this fic:  
> UROP = undergraduate research opportunity symposium  
> SFN = society for neuroscience (i am aware that sfn takes place in the fall but suspend ur disbelief n pretend it's in the summer)  
> CPP = conditioned place preference  
> CNLM = center for the neurobiology of learning and memory  
> EH&S = environmental health and safety  
> the rest should be science jargon that won't affect the overall comprehension for the story  
> let me know if i missed something!

**Lee, Donghyuck** <leedh62@smu.edu>

To: kimdoy21@smu.edu

Cc: moontaeil@smu.edu

Subject: UROP 2017 DRAFT 8 PLEASE

 

PLEASE LET ME BE DONE WITH THIS PAPER I DON’T WANT TO WRITE ANOTHER DRAFT PLEASE I NEED TO SUBMIT IT IN LIKE 3 HOURS

 

\--------------------------------------------------------

Best,

Donghyuck Lee

Biological Sciences, Neurobiology, 2018

 

\--

 

**Kim, Doyoung** <kimdoy21@smu.edu>

To: leedh62@smu.edu

Cc: moontaeil@smu.edu

Re: Subject: UROP 2017 DRAFT 8 PLEASE

 

Your citation for the Rogge paper was wrong! Do you want to be penalized for that? 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------

Doyoung Kim

Ph.D. Candidate 

Department for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory 

 

\--

 

**Lee, Donghyuck** <leedh62@smu.edu>

To: kimdoy21@smu.edu

Cc: moontaeil@smu.edu

Re: Subject: UROP 2017 DRAFT 8 PLEASE

 

I’M SUBMITTING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL TO UROP NOT A PAPER TO J NEURO JSDFKJ IT’S NOT THAT DEEP

 

\--------------------------------------------------------

Best,

Donghyuck Lee

Biological Sciences, Neurobiology, 2018

 

\--

 

**Moon, Taeil <** moontaeil@smu.edu>

To: leedh62@smu.edu, kimdoy21@smu.edu

Re: Subject: UROP 2017 DRAFT 8 PLEASE

 

Donghyuck-- I asked you to stop Cc’ing me in these after draft 4. And caps lock gives me a headache. 

Doyoung-- let him submit. His proposal is fine. He's not even your undergrad. Fight over text message, not in my email. Thanks. 

 

Sent from my iPhone

\---------------------------------------------

Taeil Moon, PhD

Chair, Dept. of Neurobiology & Behavior

University of SM 

Director, SMU Center for Addiction Neuroscience

Fellow, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory

 

\--

 

“Good morning, people!” 

 

Donghyuck enters the lab with a flourish, sliding the strap of his backpack off his shoulder and ready to set it down on his desk, but stops when he realizes there’s someone else sitting there. 

 

Technically, it’s not necessarily  _ his _ desk. It was officially reserved for leftover food from events, snacks Taeil brings back when he travels, stuff Doyoung stress bakes, the stapler, hole puncher, and a container of colorful paper clips. Donghyuck just considers it his desk because it’s the only one available when the rest of the space was taken up by everyone else in the lab. 

 

Currently, the desk is occupied by the half-eaten package of Haribo candies Taeil got from Germany, several day-old leftover grocery store cookies that Doyoung grabbed after Neuroblitz on Friday, and some stranger guy that Donghyuck has never seen before. 

 

The lab is empty save for him, this Stranger Guy, Renjun and Jaehyun, since everyone else is at SFN. Jaehyun, Renjun, and Stranger Guy turn in their chairs when Donghyuck makes a ruckus (because that’s what he does), and  _ oh my, _ Stranger Guy is very cute. In a lanky, nerdy kind of way. Which is to say, exactly Donghyuck’s type. 

 

“Oh, hey Donghyuck,” Jaehyun starts. “This is Mark, he’s gonna be Sicheng’s undergrad this summer.” 

 

“Hey,” Stranger Guy-- Mark smiles and offers his hand. Donghyuck can feel the predatory grin on his face as he shakes it. 

 

“ _ Hello _ there. I’m Donghyuck, it’s a pleasure.” Mark’s fingers are long and bony and a little dry in Donghyuck’s death grip. “I’m going into my third year in bio sci, what about you?” He plops down in the unoccupied seat next to Mark (it’s Sicheng’s desk space, but Sicheng is at SFN, so Donghyuck has free reign with seating arrangements for the next week). 

 

“I’m going into my fourth year,” Mark replies, and Donghyuck can’t help but coo. 

 

“Aw, that’s so cute! It’s never too late to start doing research.” 

 

Mark laughs. “Actually I--”

 

“Don’t worry. I’m basically an expert here, I’ve been around for so long it feels like I’m a grad student already.” He leans back in the swivel chair, laughing. “So if you have any questions, feel free to ask me, I’m always around to help.”

 

Mark blinks at him, clearly startled by Donghyuck’s enthusiasm. From behind him, Jaehyun makes a face of disgust, Renjun rolls his eyes, and Donghyuck decides to ignore them both. “Uh… thanks?” 

 

Donghyuck smiles his trademark thousand watt smile, and Mark looks suitably dazed. “It’s not a problem. Now if you’ll excuse me--” Donghyuck gets up, grabbing his lab notebook from his backpack. “-- I need to section like, twenty eight brains so if anyone needs me I’ll be at the cryostat.” He winks at Mark. “It was really nice to meet you. I look forward to working together.” 

 

“Uh… yeah. Likewise.” 

 

\--

 

“You looked like an idiot,” Renjun says, taking a delicate bite of his rice. From beside him, Chenle snickers, and Donghyuck jeers. 

 

“I was trying to be helpful!” Donghyuck says defensively, picking at his peanut butter sandwich and eyeing Renjun’s lunch with envy. Renjun lives at home which meant his mother made him a massive three-course meal every day, packed neatly into a giant red insulated lunch bag that Donghyuck knew (from experience) hurt like a bitch if someone got hit with it. 

 

“I think you have a superiority complex,” Jisung adds unhelpfully, and Donghyuck hopes he chokes on his Panda Express. It was rare that the youngest of the undergrads in the Moon lab ever joined in for lunch (apparently they’re not cool enough), and Donghyuck wishes today could have been one of those days, but alas. 

 

“Actually,” Renjun pauses to chew on his food, before dabbing his mouth with a napkin. “I think he has a really bad inferiority complex, and he masks it as a superiority complex.” 

 

“Okay Sigmund Freud,” Donghyuck scoffs, choosing to put his half-eaten sandwich back into its bag, and opens his granola bar. It’s not that he feels inferior. Every time a new undergrad came onto the team, Donghyuck just feels slightly… threatened. And feels the need to assert his seniority. It doesn’t help that Mark is really cute and Donghyuck  _ might _ have a crush on him, which automatically makes Donghyuck act like a moron. 

 

“Since I was Sicheng’s undergrad first, does that make me his senior? Even though he's older?” Chenle muses. 

 

Donghyuck snorts. “I'd like to see you trying to boss him around.” 

 

Chenle pouts. “Why didn’t you invite him for lunch?” he asks instead, stealing a piece of orange chicken from Jisung’s plate. 

 

“Jaehyun’s teaching him how to handle mice in the vivarium so--” Donghyuck shrugs nonchalantly, but he’s irritated because Jaehyun’s the senior undergrad, which means he’s in charge while everyone's gone, therefore he delegates tasks,  _ therefore _ he feels the need to protect Mark from Donghyuck’s clutches, clearly. It’s like Donghyuck even wants to hurt Mark. 

 

“He’s pretty cute,” Chenle says idly, and Donghyuck scoffs. 

 

“Really? I didn’t notice.” (He did.)

 

“Of course you didn’t,” Chenle says wryly. He then turns to Renjun. “Any updates from SFN?” 

 

Renjun hums and picks up his phone, opening up his chat with Doyoung. “Yuta just had his talk and apparently it went really well. Taeil got mistaken for an undergrad. Again. And uhm… They met Dr. Seo!” 

 

“Oh  _ shit, _ ” Chenle murmurs, and there are nods of agreement from everyone at the table. 

 

“Apparently he treated them all to lunch.” 

 

Donghyuck rests his chin on his hand and sighs wistfully. “Imagine going out to lunch with Dr. Seo.” 

 

“Honestly though. I probably wouldn’t eat though. I’d just drool,” Renjun agrees, locking his phone and setting it down again. He begins packing his tupperware. “Alright guys I gotta go handle.” 

 

Donghyuck makes a noise of sympathy. “CPP?” 

 

Renjun nods. “Ends of thirty six.” 

 

“Yikes.” Donghyuck knows how difficult it is running behavior with just twenty eight mice. Thirty six is basically torture, on top of being overkill. “Why does Doyoung want such high ends?” 

 

Renjun shrugs getting up. “I think the review committee thought they were too low for them to believe the data? Just cuz the finding is really novel doesn’t mean he’s wrong…” he grumbles. 

 

“I feel. Good luck.” Everyone knows how bitchy and fickle review committees for science journals are, and getting frustrating (and frankly, stupid) feedback on papers are an occupational hazard.  

 

“Thanks. And I just downloaded a new audiobook so I’m ready to go.” One of the beautiful things about research was the independence, and the fact that everyone always had their headphones on, minding their own business. Donghyuck had been able to actually appreciate GFriend’s entire discography during long hours doing surgeries. And when he got clued into the magical secret that was Bluetooth headphones, after the hundredth time getting the cord caught on a corner, it was safe to say his life had changed. 

 

Renjun liked to listen to self help books and angsty historical fiction, because he’s  _ Renjun,  _ but to each their own. Donghyuck knows Doyoung does the same, and they're both the same kind of anal retentive. Like grad student, like undergrad. It was too bad Renjun was pre med, a fact that Donghyuck reminds him of constantly. 

 

He would have done really well in grad school. Now, Donghyuck? It’s a hit or miss, depending on the day. 

 

\--

 

Two days later, Donghyuck walks into the wet lab, mentally preparing himself for another four hour block of freezing his hands off in the cryostat (he finished brain eighteen yesterday), and finds Mark standing in front of one of the centrifuges, staring at the shelves with blank, lost eyes. 

 

“Hey bud, you okay?” Donghyuck asks, approaching. Mark turns to him in surprise and  _ fuck,  _ he's even cuter than Donghyuck initially realized. Mark has small eyes that go really wide when he's surprised (which seems to be always), pouty lips, and shiny black hair that he currently has shoved under a beanie, even though it's basically a hundred degrees outside. It hits all of Donghyuck’s buttons. 

 

“Huh? Uh. Not sure,” Mark replies with an honesty Donghyuck isn't used to hearing. Most undergrads had too much pride to ask for help and would rather screw up an experiment than ask questions. 

 

Donghyuck sets his notebook down on the lab bench, sensing an opportunity. “What’s going on?” 

 

Mark squints down at what Donghyuck knows is the genotyping protocol because  _ he _ was the one who wrote it and added the unnecessary clip art of the sun in the corner. “I have no idea where the primers are.” 

 

Donghyuck raises an eyebrow. “Where’s Jaehyun?” 

 

“He had to go to the bio sci counselor, apparently? I said I would be fine but…” 

 

Donghyuck gasps loudly, slapping his hand to his chest. “How  _ irresponsible. _ Don’t worry, Mark, I’m here for you. I’ll help you.” 

 

Mark furrows his brows, and Donghyuck wants to pinch his adorable cheeks. “Are you sure? Aren’t you supposed to be sectioning or something? I just need to know where some of the stuff is, really--” 

 

Donghyuck waves his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry, there’s no one scheduled for the cryostat after me so I have time. I’d be glad to help. And besides,” Donghyuck scoots closer to Mark, bumping their hips lightly together. “Genotyping is easy. It’s like… a rite of passage in a lab. But the first time is always the hardest.” 

 

“I see,” Mark says, mouth twitching up into a smile. 

 

Donghyuck returns it, grabbing a pair of nitrile gloves and slipping them on. “So what step are you on?” 

 

“Uh. Jaehyun and I isolated the DNA yesterday so we’re prepping for PCR. So I need the primers but Jaehyun kinda… ran off and didn’t tell me which ones. Or where they are.” 

 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes so hard it almost hurts. “Jaehyun’s a little… uhm. How should I say this… eccentric? Odd? I’m trying to think of synonyms for  _ really fucking weird _ .” 

 

Mark laughs. “He’s chill, I like him. It seemed like it was an emergency when he ran out so I don’t blame him.” 

 

Donghyuck shakes his head. “You’re too forgiving. Which line are you running right now? HDAC3?” Mark looks down at the epitubes in front of him before nodding.

 

“And I already got ice.” Mark grabs the bucket and shakes it a little, the ice making a crunching sound. 

 

“Sweet, come with me.” Donghyuck walks to the back of the lab and stands in front of the large white refrigerator. “This is the twenty degree fridge. I call him Prince Zuko because I love irony.” Mark lets out a delighted peel of laughter that strokes Donghyuck’s ego. “You’ll find all the stuff you need for PCR in here.” 

 

He opens the fridge and points to the racks on the third shelf. “For HDAC3 you’ll want 214 and 215.” He reaches in and pulls out the box, setting it on the lab bench and taking out the small epitubes, and shoves them into the ice. “It’s really important to keep them cold so they don’t denature.” He closes the box and puts it back quickly, before pulling out another. “And this has the MQ water and GoTaq that you’ll need as well.” 

 

After shoving them all into the ice, they head back to Mark’s spot on the lab bench. “The important thing to do now is to calculate how much master mix you need to make, which depends on how many samples you have. I have this pretty easy table I use that--”

 

“Donghyuck, what are you doing?” Jaehyun comes in, a little breathless, face red. 

 

“I’m helping Mark with the PCR step, clearly,” Donghyuck says, motioning dramatically to the ice bucket. 

 

Jaehyun twists his face. “Why?” 

 

Donghyuck scoffs. “Because you so  _ rudely _ abandoned him. Luckily I was there to save the day and help him out. Is this really the kind of impression you want to give him of molecular techniques? He’s new, you can’t just throw him in  _ blind. _ ” He takes a deep breath after his short rant, and looks at Mark, expecting a smile of gratitude, but finds him trying to hold back a laugh instead. He then looks at Jaehyun, who narrows his eyes at him. 

 

“Donghyuck, do you ever listen to the things going on in this lab?” 

 

“I don’t care about things that don’t involve praising me,” Donghyuck says haughtily. 

 

Jaehyun rolls his eyes. “Dude. Mark isn’t  _ new. _ He was in the Son lab at his old school for three years. He’s a molecular expert. That’s why Taeil wanted to take him on, so he could help Sicheng with his project.” 

 

Donghyuck blinks rapidly, processing the words. Then his cheeks rapidly turn red, and he points his finger accusingly at Mark. “You lied?” 

 

“Technically I didn’t lie. I don’t really know where anything is yet.” Mark shrugs, holding his hands up in the air. Donghyuck splutters, and feels, for the first time in a while, embarrassed. Then, Mark smiles bashfully, face looking similarly red. “Besides, it’s not every day a cute guy offers to help you genotype. So.” 

 

And then, adding to the list of first times, Donghyuck is speechless. 

 

“Oh god, I give up,” Jaehyun groans, and walks away. 

 

\--

 

Donghyuck can’t decide whether he’s disappointed or glad when everyone is back the following Monday. He’d gotten used to the somewhat peaceful lab environment (save for Chenle’s screaming, which he considers a constant, therefore negligible). With everyone back from SFN, the main lab space is brimming with conversation and movement. 

 

“Hey kid,” Yuta says, when Donghyuck unceremoniously dumps his backpack by his desk. “Got you a present.” 

 

“If it’s one of those giant Abcam post-it note stacks I don’t want it.” 

 

Yuta grins conspiratorially before tossing a grey-something at him. It’s a plushie in the shape of a neuron. With big cute eyes and everything. It kind of looks like Mark. 

 

“Holy shit this is so cute,” Donghyuck coos, squishing it in his hands. 

 

“I got it for free, don’t get too excited,” Yuta says. 

 

“Aw, and I almost thought for a second that you cared about me,” Donghyuck jibes back, to which Yuta just grins. Donghyuck puts the plushie down on the desk space, because he doesn’t want it to get any questionable substances on it which will undeniably happen if he puts it in his backpack. 

 

“You look like you lost weight,” is the first thing Doyoung says to him, walking into the lab with a steaming mug of what is probably one of his bizarre herbal tea blends. His eyes are sharp as he assesses Donghyuck from head to toe. “Have you been eating?” 

 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “Three meals a day and snacks, mom.” Doyoung huffs irritably before going to sit down at his desk. 

 

“Which reminds me, I got you a shirt,” Doyoung says, reaching down by his feet for his bag, and digs it out. He holds it out for Donghyuck to read the print. There’s a drawing of a brain and block text around it. 

 

“ _ It’s just brain surgery, _ ” Donghyuck reads aloud, before laughing. “This is so cool!” He grabs it and holds it to his body. 

 

Doyoung frowns. “I hope it’ll fit. I got the medium.” 

 

“It’ll definitely fit. Thanks Doyoung. You’re the best.” 

 

“Why are you trying to steal my undergrad?” Yuta snipes from his desk. Doyoung rolls his eyes and ignores him in favor of starting up his desktop computer. 

 

“Hey Hyuck,” Sicheng greets, walking in from the wet lab with gloves on. It’s eight in the morning and he looks like he’s been working for a while already. Such is the life of a new grad student. 

 

“Hey! How was your first SFN?” 

 

Sicheng grins, peeling off the gloves and tossing them, before settling down at his desk. “Chaotic. Loved it though.” 

 

Donghyuck sighs. “I’m so jealous. I wish I could have gone.” 

 

“In a couple years you’ll be there,” Sicheng says, encouraging. Donghyuck smiles, a little bashful. 

 

“Hope so. Gotta get into grad school first.” 

 

“You will, don’t worry.” 

 

Before they can continue the conversation, Mark walks in and pauses at the doorway, clearly startled by the new people in the room. 

 

“Oh, you must be Mark! I’m Sicheng.” Mark stares at Sicheng like a deer caught in the headlights, before gathering himself and walking over to shake the grad student’s hand. 

 

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Mark says, smiling sweetly. Everyone goes around to introduce themselves, and Mark looks starstruck when he meets Yuta. “I’ve read your ageing studies-- the ones with the rats and the object learning memory tasks. I-I really like your work.” 

 

“Oh wow I like this one. Sicheng can I keep him?” 

 

“Mark, don’t say nice things in front of him. His ego is big enough,” Doyoung bites. He turns to Donghyuck. “By the way, have you heard anything from Renjun? He was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago.”

 

Donghyuck tilts his head. Renjun is never late to anything. “No, I haven’t heard. I’ll text him.” He slides out his phone and shoots him a quick message. 

 

_ this bitch ass bitch _

 

**_duck:_ ** _ yo where tf r u? dy is low key mad _

 

**_injunnie:_ ** _ djskfhslkdgjsdhfkjgsldksdgnsjkdk _

**_injunnie:_ ** _ im _

**_injunnie_ ** _ : ill be there jsut jhfukjh _

 

Donghyuck blinks at the uncharacteristically flustered state of Renjun’s texts. “He’ll be here soon, he says.” Doyoung nods, frowning, and turns back to his computer screen. 

 

As he looks up, Taeil walks in, with his messenger bag slung across his shoulder and a Starbucks cup in his hand. If he wasn’t wearing a pressed button down and leather shoes, Donghyuck might have mistaken him for a high school student who got lost from his tour group. 

 

“Oh my god, Dr. Moon, hi,” Mark says, shooting up from his chair so fast he almost falls over. 

 

“Hi there, you must be Mark. Seungwan has told me a lot about you. It’s great to have you on board,” Taeil says, shaking Mark’s hand. That same, glazed, starstruck look is back on Mark’s face and Donghyuck thinks it’s truly the most adorable thing he’s ever seen. 

 

“It’s great to be here,” Mark says, stuttering a little over his words. It’s almost comical, considering Mark is a good several inches taller and wider than Taeil. But such is the mysterious way of Dr. Moon. 

 

“Sicheng and I are gonna meet later in the week to go over the plan for the rest of the summer, and then you can touch base with him after to plan out the experiments,” Taeil says, straight to business. 

 

“O-of course.” 

 

Taeil nods. “Great. I know everyone will help you get settled in.” Then he turns to the rest of the lab. “I’m heading up for a meeting with Joohyun. Text if anyone needs me.” And with that, he’s gone, and Mark lets out a shaky breath, sliding back bonelessly into his chair. 

 

“Oh my god,” he mumbles. 

 

“You okay?” Donghyuck asks, quirking up an eyebrow. 

 

“I just met Dr. Moon,” he mutters, staring at his hands. 

 

Donghyuck snorts. “Taeil? Why’s that a big deal?” 

 

Mark turns to him with those big, stricken eyes. “H-he’s like… a  _ rockstar, _ Donghyuck. Don’t you know?” 

 

Donghyuck shrugs, noncommittally. He knew, to an extent, the breadth of Taeil’s reputation in the field of neurobiology, but after seeing him so many times and being on the receiving end of many exasperated looks, the glory wore off. 

 

“But… it’s Taeil...” he chooses to say, and Mark splutters indignantly. 

 

“So, Mark, how’s the training going?” Yuta asks, leaning back into his fancy ergonomic chair as he sips his coffee. 

 

Mark smiles, bashful, as he rubs the back of his neck. “Ah, good I guess. Jaehyun’s a good teacher.” 

 

“He’s picking things up really fast,” Jaehyun confirms without looking up from his laptop screen. He’s chewing on the end of a pen and tilting his chair back in a way that’s pretty dangerous but if he falls that means Donghyuck has something to Snapchat. 

 

“And you’re settling in well? I can’t imagine here is much different from Canada,” Doyoung adds. 

 

Mark beams at him. “Yeah it’s been surprisingly really smooth. My cousin, Taeyong, has been helping out too.” 

 

Right then, there’s a loud crash and Jaehyun tilts his chair too far back and ends up in a heap on the floor. Donghyuck snickers, whipping out his phone to film it as Jaehyun clambers to his feet. 

 

“Y-you-- Taeyong’s your cousin? Taeyong Lee?” he asks, face flaming red as he struggles to upright his chair. 

 

Mark blinks at him, alarmed. “Uh yeah. Are you guys friends?” 

 

“Friends?” Jaehyun squeaks. “Ha, no not really. Uhm. I just hear about him. Sometimes we have. Uh. Classes together.” Jaehyun clears his throat. 

 

Mark nods, clearly oblivious to Jaehyun’s distress. “Oh yeah that makes sense. He's in bio too.” He furrows his eyebrows, considering. “I think he works at the bio sci counselor's’ office? You probably see him around a ton since you're there so often.” 

 

Jaehyun’s face drains of color, and he looks like he's been caught doing something illegal. Mark doesn't notice, but Donghyuck does. Donghyuck notices everything. It takes him all of two seconds to put the pieces together, and his shit-eating smirk doesn't go unnoticed by Jaehyun. 

 

_ Don't, _ Jaehyun mouths, trying to look threatening, but Donghyuck fears no man, especially not one named Jaehyun Jung. 

 

He decides to stay quiet for now, but filed this beautiful piece of blackmail away for another time. 

 

\--

 

The opportunity strikes several days later, when Donghyuck walks in on Mark and Jaehyun, who are grabbing their key cards to go to the vivarium. 

 

“Oh, what are you guys doing?” Donghyuck asks. Jaehyun ignores him, but Mark is not so unkind. 

 

“Jaehyun’s gonna teach me how to scruff,” Mark explains. Donghyuck grins. 

 

“Oh  _ really? _ ” he sings, eyeing Jaehyun. “By the way, I think I saw Taeyong at the front desk at the bio sci building? Is he working today?” 

 

Jaehyun’s eyes widen, his breath coming out in short pants. His gaze darts between Donghyuck and Mark, clearly panicking. “I--” 

 

“I was gonna head down to the vivarium too. Mind if I come with?” Donghyuck asks, hoping that will be the final push. 

 

Jaehyun blinks rapidly. “Actually uh-- I realized I have to go see my counselor? Hyuck do you mind helping Mark until I get back?” 

 

_ Slam dunk,  _ Donghyuck thinks. He beams at Jaehyun. “Of course not, you know I just love to help.” 

 

Donghyuck resists the urge to do a dance as he grabs his keycard and follows Mark and Jaehyun out of the CNLM and across the quad to the bio sci building. 

 

“I’m gonna--” Jaehyun points to the front desk in the lobby, and Donghyuck is thankful that Taeyong is actually working right now because he fears for his life the day Jaehyun realizes he was lying. 

 

“Sure, see you in a bit,” Mark waves, hitting the down button on the elevator as they part ways. Donghyuck thinks his obliviousness is adorable. 

 

“So your keycard is working?” Donghyuck asks as Mark scans it and presses the button for the basement. 

 

Mark grins and nods, staring at the card slung around his neck proudly. “Yep. There was a bunch of paperwork but EH&S finally came through.”

 

“It's not EH&S if there's not paperwork,” Donghyuck says idly, to which Mark laughs. “Did you know this elevator is haunted?” That wipes the smile off Mark’s face. 

 

“What?” he squeaks. Donghyuck grins, wicked. 

 

“Once over the weekend, I was trying to come back up to the first floor and I got stuck between floors for fifteen minutes. And then the lights went out.” 

 

The color drains from Mark’s face, and he jumps when the doors slide open. “W-what did you do?” 

 

Donghyuck walks out and over to the shelves and pulls out two disposable gowns, handing one to Mark. “I cried on the phone to Yuta the whole time. By the time he got to campus the elevator moved and dropped me off on the fourth floor. I took the stairs back down.”

 

“Holy shit,” Mark mumbles, fumbling as he struggles to tie the strings on the gown behind his neck. 

 

“Turn,” Donghyuck says, clicking his tongue in annoyance. Mark does as he's asked and stays still as Donghyuck ties the knot. “There we go.”

 

“Thanks.” Mark smiles at him gratefully, and Donghyuck swears his heart doesn’t flutter. 

 

“The vivarium is haunted too,” Donghyuck blurts, because clearly he can't be a normal person or hold a normal conversation. Mark’s smile drops (again).

 

“What the  _ fuck,  _ dude?” Mark trails behind Donghyuck as they navigate the maze of long white halls. He must have gotten lost here a million times as a first year, trying to find one door among possibly hundreds of identical ones. 

 

“Just don't go down here alone, especially on the weekends,” Donghyuck advises. “And keep looking over your shoulder, just in case. For serial killers, you know.” He snickers at Mark’s stricken face as they walk up to the door leading into the Moon lab space and scans his keycard. 

 

The door makes a beep, and Donghyuck opens the door, just narrowly dodging Renjun as he pushes a cart stacked high with cages out of the CPP room. 

 

“Oh Hyuck,” Renjun says, pulling out one of his earbuds. Upon seeing Mark right behind him, Renjun smiles his way. “Hey Mark.” 

 

“Hi,” he says, waving awkwardly, because he hadn’t had a chance to talk to Renjun properly yet outside of rushed introductions.

 

“You done for the day?” Donghyuck asks, motioning to the cages, with mice scurrying around inside. 

 

Renjun sighs. “Thankfully. Today was initial testing so tomorrow’s our off day, then I’m conditioning.” 

 

“Word. Good luck dude.” 

 

“Thanks, I’m gonna need it.” Renjun pushes the cart all the way out of the room. “CPP room’s free now if you want it,” he calls as he wheels the cages into the colony room reserved for experimental animals, to be put away for another day. 

 

“Sweet,” Donghyuck says, pulling on a pair of gloves and walking in and turning on the lights. The CPP room is not large, with a sink and cabinets and a long table on one side, and the conditioning boxes and a computer on the other side, with just enough room between for a cart. He turns to Mark. “So, how much handling have you done so far?” 

 

Mark laughs nervously. “Jaehyun showed me how to scruff my first day. I uh. Kinda suck at it.” 

 

Donghyuck waves the comment away dismissively. “Everyone sucks at scruffing, especially if you’re a rookie.” He shoots Mark a wry smile as he walks out of the CPP room and into the maintainence colony room. Mark sneezes next to him. It’s one of those full body, earthquake-inducing sneezes. Adorable. 

 

“Allergic?” Donghyuck asks sympathetically, scrunching his nose at the smell. Despite the rather efficient air filtering system, the  _ smell _ quite never left this room, given that there were hundreds of mice in here. Mark nods sadly. “You should grab a mask,” he suggests. 

 

Mark sighs indignantly and walks out of the room and to the shelf stocked with gloves, paper towels, and masks, before grabbing one and putting it on and joining Donghyuck. “Jaehyun saved some scrub animals for me in the back,” he explains, walking further into the room and past the towering racks of cages, before stopping in the back and pointing to the cages clearly labeled  **_FOR MY CANADIAN BRO ML - JJ_ ** _. _

 

“Okay let’s grab two and start there,” Donghyuck instructs, and pulls one out while Mark grabs another, and they walk back to the CPP room. “We need an empty cage and a grid too,” he says, and is pleased when Mark nods (rather obediently) and goes to retrieve them. He sets the empty cage on the table and situates the grid on top. 

 

“Alright, Canada. Go for it.” 

 

Mark blinks at him. “What?” 

 

Donghyuck points at the cage. “Take a mouse out and scruff it.” 

 

“Uh. Oh. Yeah, okay. Uhm.” Mark floats his hands around the top of one of the cages, hesitating, before taking it off and setting it down, and takes his sweet time taking out the top compartments and putting those aside as well, leaving three small, black mice scurrying around in the cob and bedding at the bottom. 

 

“Uh,” Mark puts his hand in, and Donghyuck pities him for how his fingers seem to tremble. He yelps when a mouse brushes past him, and he clutches his hand to his chest, cheeks flushed. 

 

“Dude,” Donghyuck sighs. “They’re not gonna bite you.” To prove his point, he sticks his hand in, and lets Mark watch as the two mice nearby sniff his hand and then decide he’s boring and move away. “See?” 

 

“Okay, okay, I can do this,” Mark mumbles to himself, before putting his hand again. He winces when his fingers brush against the back of a mouse, who jerks away in surprise. 

 

“Just grab them by the tail. Quickly, so they don’t have time to run away,” Donghyuck says. Mark nods and swallows thickly, and attempts to grab the tail of the closest mouse, who jumps out of the way in time. Mark spends a good ten seconds chasing the mouse around the cage, and makes a noise of frustration. 

 

“Here.” Donghyuck bumps him gently out of the way and reaches in. He grabs one of the mice by the tail, too fast for the mouse to even register what happened, and places it down on the grid. Mark stares at him with wide eyes.

 

“How did you do that?” 

 

Donghyuck shrugs, but preens inside. “Practice.” 

 

“Right. Practice. I have to practice too, don’t I?” 

 

“Well, yeah. If you want to run behavior.”

 

Mark nods, looking determined. “I do.” 

 

Donghyuck leans against the table and crosses his arms. “I thought you were a molecular guy?” 

 

“I am but,” Mark pauses as he takes the mouse on the grid by the tail and puts it back in the cage, then proceeds to chase after another. “Dr. Son’s lab was all molecular. I want to learn the behavior side too-- ha!” He grins in victory as he finally manages to nab one of the mice, and he puts it on the grid. “I did it!” 

 

“Congratulations,” Donghyuck says wryly, and Mark rolls his eyes, but he looks pleased nonetheless. “Now you have to scruff it.” 

 

Mark sighs. “Right. I hate that part.” 

 

“Everyone does.” Donghyuck watches as Mark takes the mouse by the tail with his left hand, while his right hand hovers uselessly. 

 

“Do you like behavior or molecular better?” Mark asks, eyes darting between his hand and the mouse, debating how to proceed. Donghyuck hums in consideration. 

 

“Molecular experiments are kinda soothing, you know?” Mark nods in agreement. “But behavior is what I’m most confident in. That’s the first thing Yuta taught me.” 

 

“It seems really cool,” Mark hums, before clicking his tongue and letting the mouse go. “Could you do it once?” Mark asks him, eyes wide and pleading. Donghyuck feels the first hot prickles of stress sweat underneath his armpits. 

 

“What?” he squeaks. He blinks at the mouse, sniffing at the grid and resting idly. “Uh.”

 

“It would help if I could see someone do it properly first,” Mark explains. Donghyuck laughs nervously. When was the last time he scruffed? He’d been doing a ton of molecular work in the wet lab because that’s what Yuta’s focus was right now. They had all the behavior data from Donghyuck’s first couple years. Scruffing is  _ not _ like learning to ride a bike. Sometimes you forget. Donghyuck forgets. 

 

“Sure,” he says, because apparently now he turns into a little bitch whenever Mark is involved. He prays to god that he doesn’t monumentally embarrass himself. “I just… I haven’t done this in a while so I’m a bit rusty.” He clears his throat and Mark steps out of the way to let Donghyuck grab the tail. 

 

“So uh, the trick with scruffing is to use all of your fingers. You use your thumb and the first two fingers to move up the spine and actually grab them, right? But the other two, you bend them towards your palm and use them to press the mouse down so that it doesn’t squirm and try to bite you,” he explains, stalling. 

 

Donghyuck is rather sure he has a wet patch on his shirt from the sweat. Even after three years, scruffing makes him nervous. Mice were unpredictable and frankly, insane. He’s also pretty jumpy, and the tiniest jerk from a mouse used to send him shrieking. 

 

“You just-- sorta--” The moment Donghyuck puts his fingers on the mouse, it jumps several inches up in the air, and Donghyuck lets out an unearthly scream, jumping back and hitting his wrist against the wall in the process. 

 

“ _ Dude, _ ” Mark chokes out, looking horrified, and Donghyuck tries to control his jack hammering heart and the sting of tears. 

 

“I heard screaming and it wasn’t Chenle,” Renjun says, appearing at the doorway. “Did someone die?” 

 

“The mouse tried to kill him,” Mark explains, and Donghyuck thanks the lucky stars that at least he’s not laughing. God is probably having a good chuckle, though. Mark turns to him. “You okay dude?” 

 

Donghyuck chokes out a shrill laugh, trying to ignore Renjun’s look of pity. “Sorry, just freaked out for a second there. Uhm, Mark, you wanna try?” 

 

“No way,” Mark says earnestly. 

 

As if by magic, Jaehyun then walks in, looking a little dazed, but his eyes sharpen when he notices Donghyuck’s flustered state. “What did you do?” 

 

“Nothing!” Donghyuck shrills. “But now that you’re here, you can take over. I’m gonna go do colony work.” He needs to get out before he can embarrass himself even more. 

 

“Thanks for trying, Donghyuck,” Mark says, smiling softly. Donghyuck laughs nervously and shakes his head, grabbing Renjun by the wrist and pulling him out of the CPP room and out of the lab space, into the hall. 

 

“I’m gonna fucking--”

 

“You’re actually the most stupid person I’ve ever met,” Renjun says primly, tugging off his gloves. Donghyuck hits his head on the wall repeatedly. 

 

“This is why I’m single,” Donghyuck moans. 

 

“There are lots of reasons why you’re single.”

 

Donghyuck turns his head to glare. “You’re supposed to be my best friend, not a bitch.” 

 

Renjun shrugs. “They’re not mutually exclusive. I’m just telling you how it is.” 

 

“How do I get him to like me, Injun?” Renjun opens his mouth to say something undoubtedly cutting, then hesitates, when he notices the desperation in Donghyuck’s eyes. Renjun tugs him away from the wall and towards the elevator. 

 

“Stop trying to show off,” Renjun says, letting his voice go soft and sweet in a way that kind of freaks Donghyuck out whenever he uses it. “You’re a good scientist but you’re kinda sabotaging yourself right now.” 

 

“What do I do?” Donghyuck whines, ripping off the gown and shoving it unceremoniously into the trash bin by the elevator. 

 

“I don’t know. Anything but what you’re doing now.” 

 

\--

 

Donghyuck never claimed to good at relationships-- romantic or platonic. So he spends the next couple of days dodging Mark, which is actually easier than he initially thought. The good thing about a lab is that everyone minds their own business when they’re busy. As long as Donghyuck looks busy, no one approaches him. 

 

“Donghyuck,” Yuta says, smacking him on the shoulder and making him yelp in surprise. Yuta is an exception to every rule. He doesn’t care if Donghyuck is dying in a ditch. 

 

“I almost  _ stabbed _ myself with a pipette you  _ ass, _ ” Donghyuck hisses, putting said instrument down on the lab bench and pulling off his headphones. “What do you want?” 

 

Yuta narrows his eyes. “I’m writing your letter of rec. You should be nicer to me.” 

 

Donghyuck smiles through gritted teeth. “Dr. Nakamoto, what can I do for you?” 

 

Yuta rolls his eyes. “Forget I even said anything. Anyway, everyone’s going down to SUM for carne asada fries since Mark’s new. You’re coming, right?” 

 

This is what Donghyuck was afraid of. The inevitable moment when he’d have to face Mark again, and the looks of pity and second-hand embarrassment that he really did not need from his crush. 

 

But. Carne asada fries. 

 

Carne asada fries always win.  _ Always. _

 

“Sure,” Donghyuck says, sighing. “Right now?” 

 

“Yeah. If you’re in the middle of something, we can wait.” 

 

Donghyuck shakes his head, hopping off his chair and pulling off his gloves. “Nah, I’m good.” 

 

“Great.” Yuta beams and Donghyuck follows him out of the wet lab and into the main lab, where everyone is getting ready to go, grabbing their wallets. 

 

“Hey, Donghyuck,” Mark says amicably, no trace of judgement in his eyes. 

 

“Hey,” Donghyuck replies tersely, digging through his backpack for his wallet. As he looks up, he catches Renjun grabbing his obtrusive red lunch bag and booking it towards the exit. “Hey, where are you going?” 

 

Renjun stops and turns, looking a little flushed. “I uh, I have a club meeting right now.” 

 

Donghyuck frowns. “But, carne asada fries.” 

 

Renjun rolls his eyes. “Save me some for later. I gotta go.” And with that, he’s off, moving at a speed Donghyuck has never seen before.  _ Shady. _

 

“Alright squad, move out,” Yuta says, heading out of the door. 

 

“You’re too old to say squad,” Jisung says, yelping when Yuta pulls him into a headlock. 

 

“I’m the very definition of youth, Sungie.” 

 

“But you’re like-- fifty--” Jisung chokes out, clearly regretting ever opening his mouth. 

 

“Try again, buddy,” Yuta hisses, tightening his hold. 

 

Mark smiles and looks around the lab, noticing Doyoung glaring intently at his computer. “Doyoung, are you coming?” 

 

“I’m vegan,” he says, not taking his eyes off the screen. Mark blinks at Donghyuck, who shrugs.

 

“He’s vegan. Come on.” Donghyuck pulls Mark out of the lab and the CNLM, and they make up the tail end of their massive group as they walk towards the on-campus cafeteria. 

 

“So, carne asada fries?” Mark asks. 

 

“It’s like a rite of passage at the lab. SUM’s are like. Legendary. We go at least a couple times a month.” 

 

“I have high expectations then,” Mark replies, then grabs Donghyuck by the wrist and jerks him back, just in time to not get run over by a speeding golf cart. “Holy shit,” he laughs. 

 

“Wow, totally just saved my life, dude,” Donghyuck wheezes. “Why are there golf carts driving around campus right now? I saw a bunch earlier this week too.” 

 

“Oh you didn’t know?” Mark asks, walking a little faster to catch up to the group. Donghyuck shakes his head. “Renjun was asking about it like a week ago too. The Wolves are here.” 

 

“That football team?” Donghyuck isn’t much of a sports person, but he doesn’t live under a rock either. He’s heard the name floating around, and is under the impression that they’re a pretty good team. That’s the extent of his knowledge. 

 

Mark nods. “Their practice fields are going through renovations or something, so they’re having their summer training camp here. They’ve taken over like half of University Hills.” 

 

Donghyuck blinks stupidly. “I live in University Hills.” 

 

“Really?” Mark laughs. “So do I!” 

 

“What? How did I not know any of this?” 

 

Mark shrugs. “Dunno. I’m always playing basketball with Jaehyun out on the courts. You should come by and join us.” 

 

“Oh, I’m awful at sports.” Donghyuck prefers staying inside at all times and watching Youtube. 

 

“Then at least come and hang out. It’d be nice to have you there,” Mark says softly, shooting him that heart-stoppingly tender smile that makes Donghyuck want to lie on the scorching cement and just roll away. 

 

“Oh, uh. Neat. Maybe I will,” Donghyuck says, laughing nervously.  _ Shit. Shit shit shit. _ Luckily, he doesn’t have to say much else, because they reach SUM right then, and everyone gets in line to order. Donghyuck and Mark end up behind Yuta, who flashes a grin at the student working on the other side of the counter. 

 

“Can I get the carne asada fries? But like, without the carne asada?” The student blinks at him, disbelieving, and Mark gives Donghyuck an identical look. 

 

“Uh… do you want the toppings?” 

 

“Yeah, of course.”

 

“Cheese?”

 

Yuta shakes his head. “No cheese.” 

 

The student begins to look increasingly disillusioned. “Salsa?” 

 

Yuta leans over to Donghyuck. “Salsa is vegan, right?” Donghyuck can only nod, because he really should have seen that coming. 

 

“What is that all about?” Mark asks, tugging on Donghyuck’s sleeve. 

 

Donghyuck sighs, exasperated, and wishes suddenly that he could in the Bae lab, where this sort of shit didn’t happen on a daily basis. Seulgi was a  _ normal _ post doc. “I think Yuta has a thing for Doyoung.” 

 

Mark gasps, making Donghyuck jerk in surprise. “ _ What? _ ” 

 

“I’m pretty sure it’s mutual. Which, in my opinion, feels kind of incestuous since they’re co workers, you know? But they’d kill each other before admitting it.” 

 

“Holy crap I wouldn’t have even thought…” Mark mumbles, and Donghyuck grins, thinking of how oblivious he is about Jaehyun and his rather astronomical infatuation with Taeyong. 

 

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Donghyuck says sweetly, patting Mark on the head before turning to order. He’s lucky Mark is oblivious, it makes hiding his crush that much easier.

 

\--

 

Donghyuck wakes up in the morning to a slew of texts from Renjun. A good majority of them are alarm and broken heart emojis, and he knows. Today is D-Day. 

 

“Hey Hyuck, can you grab like, six pounds of dry ice?” Yuta asks, already handing over his keycard before Donghyuck can respond, much less put his backpack down. He thumps Mark on the back as he walks over to Yuta’s desk and grabs it. “Don’t lose it this time,” Yuta says, voice bordering on a threat. 

 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “It was  _ one time, _ ” he groans. “I said I was sorry, and you got it back anyway.” He snatches the keycard and puts it in his pocket. “How soon do you need it?” 

 

“Renjun’s doing post testing right now. So in less than an hour.” Donghyuck nods. D-Day meant Renjun’s CPP was finishing, and everyone in the lab hauled ass to help sac the mice and extract the brains. Yuta and Doyoung were sac’ing, and Donghyuck and Sicheng were extracting. 

 

“Got it. I’ll go get it right now.” 

 

“Mind if I go with you?” Mark asks. Donghyuck blinks at him for a second. 

 

“You’re not busy?” 

 

Mark shakes his head. “I’m not doing anything right now. And you might need help.” 

 

“Oh, sure,” Donghyuck says, trying to fight the blush. He turned twenty three weeks go, but he he allows himself a stupid teenager moment to feel flustered at the idea of spending time with Mark. Even for something as mundane as getting dry ice. 

 

Mark follows him into the wet lab, and they pull on gloves in companionable silence. Donghyuck grabs two large ice buckets and tosses one at Mark. It hits him in the chest and falls to the ground. Mark makes a squawking noise as he fumbles to grab it, and Donghyuck cackles. 

 

“So, this experiment is a big deal?” Mark asks, walking next to Donghyuck as they leave the CNLM and head towards Jung Hall, where the dry ice room is. 

 

“Yeah pretty much. Doyoung’s trying to submit a paper to J Neuro and the review committee is being bitchy.” 

 

“Surprise surprise,” Mark says wryly. 

 

“Renjun’s running the behavior and then they’re both probably gonna run immunos and maybe a western. They’re kinda stressed and in a major time crunch so everyone is trying to help how they can.” 

 

Mark hums. “That’s really nice. I know a lot of labs aren’t like that.” 

 

“It’s stupid, to be honest. A lab should be like a family. We’re a team,” Donghyuck says, huffing as they climb the truly offensive number of steps to Jung Hall. 

 

“The lab I was in for a little bit my first year, before Dr. Son, was awful. No one talked and everything was like a massive competition. It was awful.” Mark frowns at the memory. 

 

“But you’re here now,” Donghyuck says cheerfully, holding the door open for Mark. “The Moon lab is a family and now you’re a part of it too.” 

 

Mark’s cheeks tinge pink. “Aha… thanks for saying that. I really like everyone.” 

 

“Good, everyone likes you.” 

 

They’re quiet for a bit as they walk through the halls, finally stopping in front of a door that has several warning signs posted on it. Mark eyes it warily. “Are you sure this is the right door?” 

 

“I’ve gotten lost too many times not to be sure. The signs are just a prank. Pretty sure the Shim lab did it.” Donghyuck scans Yuta’s keycard and waits for the scanner to make a beep before opening it. “Undergrads aren’t allowed to have access to this room, probably cuz EH&S thinks we’re gonna steal shit. If you ever need dry ice, just ask Doyoung or Sicheng or Yuta.” 

 

Mark makes a noise of assent, following Donghyuck into the room. There’s a massive ice chest against a wall, and a computer next to it. 

 

“We used to have to pay for it, but EH&S passed some law or something and now it’s free, so we don’t have to log it in anymore.” Donghyuck goes over to the ice chest, and pulls the lid open, only to let out a scream. 

 

“What the  _ f-- _ ” Mark jumps, pressing his hand against his chest. “Why are you always screaming?” 

 

“This is an extremely scream worthy situation, Canada!” Donghyuck shrills, motioning to the ice chest, which is completely devoid of dry ice. 

 

“Oh. That’s… not good.” Mark has never had to extract brains, but he knows how it works, and how important dry ice is. It’s time sensitive, and once the brain is extracted, it needs to be flash frozen in isopentane, then kept well below freezing until they can be stored. Which requires dry ice. Which they currently do not have. “What are we gonna do? We should text Doyoung, right?” 

 

“No, no. I have a solution,” Donghyuck says after a moment of silence. He slams the ice chest shut. “I hate EH&S,” he mumbles, walking out of the room. 

 

“What’s your solution?” Mark asks, struggling to keep up with Donghyuck’s wide, determined strides. They end up in the elevator going up to the fourth floor.

 

“Normal labs all use the EH&S stock of dry ice,” Donghyuck explains. “But there are labs who are like. Rolling in money, and they have their own stock of dry ice,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows dramatically. 

 

“That’s how you know you made it,” Mark assents, and Donghyuck laughs. “Where are we going?” 

 

“The Kim labs,” Donghyuck says, as the elevator opens and they step out. This floor looks much newer and well-kept than the rest of Jung Hall. “One half is Taeyeon Kim’s. The other half is Joonmyeon Kim’s.” 

 

“Whoa,” Mark says, amazed. “This whole floor is theirs?” He doesn’t think he’s ever seen lab space this big. 

 

“I have three words for you. Stem. Cell. Research.” 

 

“Word,” Mark mumbles, still in awe. Stem cell and Alzheimer’s research brought in the most grant money of any field. 

 

“Come on,” Donghyuck says, tugging on Mark’s sleeve as they make a left turn and walk down a hallway. “Dr. Kim doesn’t even take grad students. He has an army of post docs and project scientists,” he explains, opening one of the doors, and strides in like he owns the place. 

 

“Hey, is that Donghyuck Lee I see?” Mark’s attention turns to a tall man, sitting at one of the lab benches. 

 

“In the flesh,” Donghyuck says with a flourish. 

 

The man grins, getting up from his seat and putting down his pipette, pulling off his gloves. “How’re you doing, kid?” The man brings Donghyuck into a bear hug, ruffling his hair. “You haven’t been around in a while.” 

 

“I’ve been busy being, you know. Being me.” 

 

“I’m sure that keeps you very busy.” The man’s attention turns to Mark, who straightens up. “What’s up my dude?” 

 

“Oh, this is Mark, he moved here. He’s from Dr. Son’s lab.” 

 

The man’s eyebrows shoot up. “Oh shit, yeah, I heard she went on sabbatical, right? To write that textbook?”

 

Mark nods.”Yeah. The lab’s non-functioning right now.” 

 

“Gotcha. I’m Chanyeol, nice to meet you.” Mark shakes his hand. 

 

“Same,” he mumbles shyly. 

 

Chanyeol turns his attention back to Donghyuck. “So, what brings you here?” 

 

Donghyuck smiles sheepishly. “I need a favor. A massive favor.” Chanyeol laughs. “EH&S forgot to restock dry ice, and Renjun needs to harvest brains in like. Half an hour so we’re kinda freaking out. Could we grab some from you?” 

 

Chanyeol laughs. “Of course, let me show you where it is.” They follow Chanyeol like a pair of ducklings through the wet lab. A few other people in the lab greet Donghyuck, who waves at them enthusiastically. They stop in front of an ice chest identical to the one on the first floor. “Take as much as you need.” 

 

“You’re a life-saver, thank you thank you,” Donghyuck says. 

 

“So I’ve been told. I’ll see you around kid, don’t be a stranger.” Chanyeol nods to Mark. “Nice to meet you too.” Mark nods and watches as Chanyeol walks back to his space. 

 

“He seems really cool,” Mark says as Donghyuck opens the ice chest, squealing with joy to find it completely full with blocks of dry ice. 

 

Donghyuck nods, pulling on the gloves on the shelf nearby to grabs a couple bags, pulling out the blocks and putting them into the ice buckets. “Chanyeol is great. Actually, the whole lab is great.” 

 

“How do you know them?” Mark asks, helping toss away the empty bags as Donghyuck closes the lid. 

 

“Our lab is pretty new, right? Taeil had just been hired for a couple months before I even came in. So we didn’t have the big wet lab that we do now, or a lot of the instruments we use. We had to do a lot of our work in other labs who had the tools we needed. Dr. Kim and his team helped us a lot so I’m close with them--” And with his trademark Donghyuck Lee flair, he smirks. “Everyone just loves me. I’m irresistable.” 

 

_ No lie there, _ Mark thinks idly, as they grab their buckets, now weighed down with the blocks of dry ice. 

 

“We can crush it up back at our lab. I like to use the lucky hammer,” Donghyuck says, waving to Chanyeol as they leave the lab and step out into the hall.

 

As they walk to the elevator, they bump into a woman, who greets Donghyuck with a hug and a pinch to the cheek. “Hi Tiffany,” Donghyuck giggles, clearly pleased with the fussing.    
  


“Duckie, I miss you!” The woman-- Tiffany-- whines. “How have you been?” 

 

“Busy. Sorry I haven’t dropped by in a while. How’s the baby?” It’s then that Mark notices that Tiffany is heavily pregnant. She puts her hand over her swollen belly and laughs.    
  


“Still cooking. I’m craving Doyoung’s vegan brownies.” 

 

“I’ll pass the word along. This is Mark,” he says suddenly, pulling Mark forward. Tiffany’s eyes turn into crescents as she smiles. 

 

“Oh, Yuta told me about you. You know how to run ChIP, right?” 

 

Mark feels his face heating up. “Uh, yeah. How did you know?” 

 

“Word spreads like wildfire around here. I’ve heard really great things about you,” Tiffany says sweetly. 

 

“Thanks,” Mark says, staring at his shoes. He doesn’t know how to deal with compliments.

 

“Oh he’s so cute!” Tiffany coos. “He’s a keeper,” she says, nudging Donghyuck, who huffs. “I gotta get going, but you should come over soon. I need to feed you.” 

 

“Will do,” Donghyuck beams, letting Tiffany pinch his cheek one last time, before walking away. 

 

“You really do know everyone,” Mark says, amazed. Donghyuck shrugs, laughing. 

 

“I actually have a funny story,” he starts, pressing the down button for the elevator. “Like seven-ish months ago, before she told anyone she was pregnant, Yuta and her was learning how to do sonication from Yoona. I was there ‘cuz Yuta wanted me to observe, and Yoona was going off about how they have to always wear earplugs and how it’s not safe for pregnant women because the vibrations damage the ear canals in fetuses, and Tiffany just like… ran the fuck out of the lab like her ass was on fire.” 

 

Mark laughs in delight, and Donghyuck grins fondly at the memory as they step into the elevator. “Then the cat was kinda out of the bag. Not that people didn’t suspect it anyway. But you know.” 

 

“I didn’t have half as much fun back in Canada,” Mark admits. 

 

“Science is super fun, but you have to make it fun. We’re lucky because the neuro department here is awesome and everyone is nice. Sometimes you get a weirdo grad student, but they never really last long. We’re a family.” 

 

Mark couldn’t agree more. He feels a little homesick, but knows moving is the best decision he could have made. He likes the Moon lab. And he really likes Donghyuck.    
  


\--

 

Donghyuck thinks he might be in love. 

 

Not the foolish kind of love he felt for his first crush in kindergarten, idealizing their marriage next to the monkey bars, trading candy bars instead of wedding rings. The real kind. The kind that makes him want to toss himself off a cliff and simultaneously offer the clothes off his back. 

 

He’d let Mark Lee step on him and then apologize for getting his shoes dirty.

 

The feeling hits him about a week after the Great Dry Ice Debacle, when all of the undergrads are sitting outside the CNLM to eat lunch (though Renjun is nowhere to be found). Mark laughs so hard at something Donghyuck says that he squirts chocolate milk out of his nose, gets it all over his new white Supreme shirt and and jeans, and Donghyuck thinks  _ wow, I really really like this guy. _

 

Despite this epiphany, and the sudden and violent urge to draw hearts on the margin of his lab notebook with  **_DL+ML_ ** inside, Donghyuck keeps his cool. He is always cool. He prides himself on remaining cool in front of Mark Lee. 

 

He keeps cool when Mark offers him one of his earbuds, explaining that there’s a movie he’s watching on Netflix and  _ since it’s lunchtime, do you want to watch it with me, Hyuck? _ So they sit with their shoulders pressed together at the table Donghyuck now co-owns with Mark, watching Camp Rock and humming the lyrics under his breath. Cool. 

 

Donghyuck only tears his eyes away from the screen when he hears Mark curse under his breath. “What?” he asks. 

 

Mark pouts (cutely), waving his empty Nalgene water bottle. “Ran out.” 

 

Donghyuck wants to offer his own, and then remembers that he dropped it on his way back to his apartment last night, and it shattered into several pieces on the concrete. “Water dispenser?” 

 

Mark shakes his head. “Empty.” Donghyuck turns his head to confirm that the lab water dispenser, is, in fact empty. The water fountain is absolutely out of the question. 

 

“Wait, I know,” Donghyuck says, getting up and going over to Yuta’s desk, glad that no one is around at the moment-- either out to lunch or doing work. He opens one of the drawers and roots through it. Mark comes up behind him. 

 

“Should you be going through his stuff like that?” Mark asks nervously. Donghyuck waves him off. 

 

“Yuta stole my debit card in May and didn’t give it back for two months, Canada. He’ll live.” He makes a noise of victory when he finds what he’s looking for, shoved to the back of the third drawer. He presents it to Mark. 

 

“A… key?” Mark’s eyebrows pinch together in confusion. 

 

“Not just any key. The key to Taeil’s office.” 

 

Mark’s eyes widen comically. “Why do we need that for?” 

 

Donghyuck grins conspiratorially and skips out of the lab. “Grab your Nalgene. He has a water dispenser in there.” 

 

Mark grabs his water bottle and jogs to catch up and follows Donghyuck up the stairs to the second floor. “I don’t feel comfortable going into his office without his permission, though.” 

 

Donghyuck clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Don’t be such a goody two shoes, Canada.” He smiles innocently as Dr. Bae walks past him, her eyebrows raised in suspicion. “Taeil just got off his flight. He won’t be here for at least a couple more hours. What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him.” 

 

They reach Taeil’s office at the end of the corridor, and Donghyuck looks around, before unlocking the door. “Water dispenser--” he says, pointing to it, then frowns, realizing that one is empty too. “What the fuck,” he whines, stomping his foot. 

 

“No, wait. There’s a full one here,” Mark says, pointing to the full five gallon bottle behind Taeil’s desk. 

 

“Oh, good. We’ll just put that one in and then we can get your water,” Donghyuck chirps, going to grab it from Mark, who twists the cap off and lifts it. 

 

“It’s fine, I got it,” Mark huffs, clearly straining. 

 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes, tugging at the jug. “With those noodle arms? Let me do it.” 

 

“It’s  _ fine, _ Hyuck I can do it--”

 

“No I can do it--” 

 

“Hyuck just  _ let go--” _

 

“No, you’re gonna spill it--”

 

And because fate loves to laugh at Donghyuck, that’s exactly what happens. The water goes flying out of both of their arms and the plastic shatters on the ground, creating a small but disastrous flood in Taeil Moon’s office. 

 

Totally not cool. 

 

“Uhm.” Mark stares at the water slowly starting to seep into every crevice of the floor. “W-we should go get a custodian.” 

 

“Y-yeah,” Donghyuck says, trying valiantly not to panic. “Okay, uhm.” They both look at each other, and carefully step through the water to get to the door, and then book it down the hall and down the stairs. 

 

They see Doyoung and Yuta sitting in the circle of couches in the lobby, and Jaehyun is resting his head on Doyoung’s lap, having his hair petted. Donghyuck doesn’t have time to think about that strange arrangement. He goes straight to Yuta. 

 

“Yuta. Uhm. Problem.” 

 

Yuta looks away from Doyoung and Jaehyun, frowning when he notices Donghyuck’s stricken expression. “What the fuck did you do.” 

 

“Why does everyone always just automatically assume  _ I _ did something?” Donghyuck whines, offended. 

 

“Because you’re always in trouble, you little shit,” Yuta grits. Donghyuck sighs, exasperated. 

 

“We may or may not have flooded Taeil’s office,” Donghyuck explains. Yuta gapes at them. 

 

“How did you even-- okay, not important. Let’s get a custodian, maybe we can get it cleaned up before Taeil gets back.” 

 

“Clean what up before Taeil gets back?” 

 

Donghyuck feels a little numb as Taeil walks through the doors and stands in front of everyone, hands on his hips. He looks thoroughly exhausted and at the edge of his patience. Donghyuck kisses his letter of rec goodbye. “Uhm… I--”

 

Mark steps forward. “I spilled water all over your office floor trying to get the bottle into the dispenser. I’m really sorry, Dr. Moon.” He looks down at his shoes. 

 

Taeil blinks at Mark, then looks at Donghyuck, whose tongue suddenly feels like lead. “And you didn’t have  _ anything _ to do with this?” 

 

“I did--”

 

“He didn’t,” Mark says forcefully, giving Donghyuck a stern look. “It was all me. I’ll take whatever disciplinary action you see fit, Dr. Moon.” 

 

There’s about thirty seconds of silence, before Taeil sighs heavily. “It’s fine, Mark. Let’s just call a custodian and get it cleaned up.” 

 

Mark exhales sharply, eyes wide in surprise. “Y-you’re not mad?” 

 

Taeil rubs the bridge of his nose. “I’m too tired to be mad. And I like you. You’re the only one who calls me Dr. Moon around here.” He shoots Donghyuck a dirty look. “I have a board meeting until late afternoon. I want it cleaned up by then, okay?”

 

“Y-yes sir.” With that, Taeil turns on his heels and walks back out of the CNLM. When he’s out of earshot, Donghyuck punches Mark on the arm. “What was that for?” Mark whines, rubbing his arm. 

 

“Why the hell did you lie? It was  _ my _ fault.” 

 

“He would have been more mad if it was you,” Mark says simply. “Plus I’m just here for the summer. I don’t know if I’ll be staying on. But you’ve been here for years. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you…” Mark mumbles the last part. Donghyuck doesn’t know whether to punch him again or kiss him. 

 

“You’re off the hook this time, brat,” Doyoung pipes up (finally). He grabs Donghyuck by the ear and drags him back to the lab, Donghyuck complaining the whole way, then shoves him down into a chair. “Can you stay out of trouble for  _ one _ day?” 

 

Donghyuck pouts, and Yuta pats him on the shoulder. “Relax. Just call the custodian.” Donghyuck does as he’s told. Mark sits next to him and smiles, soft and comforting. 

 

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Donghyuck repeats, indignant, after he gets off the lab phone and puts it back in its holder. 

 

“I’m glad I did, though. Just forget it, Hyuck.” And there it is again, that violent lurching in Donghyuck’s chest that seems to correlate almost perfectly with the instances that Mark smiles at him. 

 

“You’re stupid.” 

 

It’s quiet for a while, save for Doyoung frantically typing on his keyboard. Then Yuta speaks up. 

 

“Mark, are you coming to Neurobeer tonight?” Once a month, the neurobiology department hosts a social. This month, it’s the Bae lab’s turn to buy the alcohol. 

 

Mark turns his attention to the post doc. “Not sure. There’s gonna be a lot of people, right?”

 

“You should go,” Donghyuck pipes up. “Everyone’s gonna be there, you can network.” 

 

“Will you be there?” Mark asks, expression hopeful. 

 

“Nah. No one under twenty one is allowed to be there. It’s kinda illegal, Canada.” 

 

Mark snorts. “I didn’t think a rule like that would stop you.” Donghyuck lets his bruised ego be soothed at those words. 

 

“Normally it wouldn’t, but Taeil said if he ever found out I was there, he’d revoke my lab key privileges. I like my lab keys.” Mark nods in understanding. 

 

“It would have been nice if you were there, though,” Mark says idly. Donghyuck blushes. Before he can reply, his phone vibrates. 

 

_ this bitch ass bitch _

 

**_injunnie: EMERGENCY_ **

**_injunnie: HELP ME FUCK_ **

 

**_duck: tf????? what the hell is going on????_ **

 

**_injunnie: I MADE A MISTAKE_ **

**_injunnie: A BIG MISTAKE_ **

 

**_duck: are you hurt?? do i need to beat someone up?_ **

 

**_injunnie: no fuck_ **

**_injunnie: im cryinf i cant_ **

**_injunnie: i’ll tell u later fuck_ **

**_injunnie: fffffffff_ **

 

Donghyuck frowns at the troubling and frankly out of character string of messages. Renjun has been acting weird the last couple weeks. He’s concerned for his friend. 

 

“Uh, sorry, this totally looks like I’m snooping but--” Donghyuck looks up at Mark. “Is your lock screen a picture of Ebbinghaus?” 

 

Donghyuck feels a smile growing on his face. “You mean the father of learning and memory? Fuck yeah.” 

 

“Because Donghyuck is a  _ try-hard _ ,” Yuta hoots, not even looking away from his computer. Donghyuck rolls his eyes. 

 

“It’s uh. Cool,” Mark says. “I actually uhm--” He then proceeds to roll his left shirt sleeve up. The words  _ Do it for Tolman _ is inked in sweeping cursive over his skinny bicep. Donghyuck reads it out loud. 

 

“Holy shit, is that permanent?” Donghyuck reaches out to brush his fingers against the skin.  _ This is it, _ Donghyuck realizes. There’s never going to be anyone as nerdy and awkward and perfect like Mark. Donghyuck is ruined. 

 

“It’s not. Just wanted it to remind myself over the summer, you know? Motivation and all that.” 

 

Donghyuck looks up at Mark. “Please marry me,” he says seriously. Mark blushes so hard he looks like he’s going to pass out. 

 

“Maybe let’s go on a date first?” 

 

Donghyuck feels distinctly like his heart may have stopped. “A-are you… did you just ask me on a date, Canada?” 

 

Mark flushes all the way down to his neck. “I… It was kind of an accident but uhm. Yeah. I am. I think.” Donghyuck narrows his eyes. “I’ll buy you carne asada fries.” 

 

Donghyuck grins so wide that his face hurts. “With guac.” 

 

Mark rolls his eyes, but smiles anyway. “Okay. Guac.” 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for making it through this! if there are any logistical confusions, please let me know and i will try to clear things up in the future parts. this is part of my massive lab au. there's a lot of foreshadowing going on here. some of these things are directly inspired by personal experience. everything i have talked about/will talk about in the future is real science and experiments that have been done. i'd love to know your guesses on what pairings/situations you think might come up. everything's all planned so it won't affect the fic, but i'm curious about your thoughts. no animals were harmed in the making of this story. i'll see you all soon!
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/hyuckheis) || [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/hyuckheis) || [tumblr ](https://hvuckheis.tumblr.com/)


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